ANKARA - Turkey`s special envoy to Iraq Ambassador Oguz Celikkol said Monday there was broad agreement that a wider gathering of high-level officials over Iraq could be held in Istanbul in April.
The conference would host foreign ministers of Iraq`s neighbors, permanent members of the UN Security Council and G8 countries, Celikkol told an interview on private news channel NTV.
A similar conference might be held in Cairo but only with the participation of foreign ministers from countries bordering Iraq, he said.
Celikkol cited opposition from Iran and Iraq to Istanbul as a location for the conference.
He added that the two countries insisted on Baghdad, but saying that security situation in the Iraqi capital would not allow such a meeting.
Celikkol rejected any problem in talking to Kurdish groups and that high-level meetings could be held when the time came.
He, however, urged the local administration in the north of Iraq to show political will in fighting against the terrorist organization PKK.
"They can take certain steps if they really want to do so and remove a major obstacle before our relations," he said.